...into slices....
I saw these kind of rings all over the years...they sell them at nearly every jewellery-shop in the South of Morocco and they are worn by men and women, still believing (or not...) that they are a protection against the „evel eye“. They call them „Magic-Eye-Ring“, but the name will sound much better in Berber-language (...I forgot to ask...) . The pictured ring is a newly made one, but I saw rings that looked much older, with slices of big 7-layers too...So it seems, that they have bigger quantitys in Morocco, than I thought before...On my next trip in November I will try to find out, from which time on they used the small and the big ones and if there was a time-difference....

...sometimes I asked myself, what Carl will do, when you are not "here", and now I know...LOL....but whatever it took, it was worth every single hour...You must feel pretty well and proud...Greetings...

....the silver and silver-enamel beads and pendants were strung up just for showing here, and I thought, the venetians in green will match...all silver-enamel beads and pendants were made in Morocco, some new, some older(30 or 40 years, I would guess...), but not antique...the „Southern Cross“ (hmmm...Steven Stills...) in center is an older one, without knowing the age...I do not know about origin or age of all silver beads next to the Venetians....Morocco, other African places, India....?!...the round beads with brown „equator“ could be from Niger, where they combinate ebony, copper, brass and other metals with silver...in center of the picture is a „tcherot“ pendant or talisman box, 110x114mm, made of various metals (no silver), possibly from Mauritania...., and I don´t think it´s old...and I didn´t found the right background in combination with light...the close ups are better....

really preety! Did you make it? How do I get some of the silver/enamal beads????

....it doesn´t sound arrogant, but it was just a 15-minute "job", right after they arrived by mail...I sent them to myself from my last trip to Morocco for some reasons...I thought, they will look more nice arranged on a necklace, than throwing them all in a case (or on my usual used mirrors) to picture them...The best place for silver/enamel jewellery is still "Tiznit", Morocco, but the older silver/enamel beads are now harder to find...I didn´t saw whole strands of them and picked them up from various traders.

-of the silver, silver enamel, and venetians. They complement one another perfectly. Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing with those busy venetians, do you know what I mean? but this stringing displays all their virtues, with the silver enamel colours setting them off beautifully. Lovely. Thanks for the piccies.

..."busy venetians" sounds very nice...grin...and yes, I know, what you mean...I am wearing beads all the time, but I gave up to decide, which beauty will perfectly match with....what...?? ...and so I wear all those together, I like most for some time, and then I make a change after some weeks...So I have to say, that the pictured "necklace" comes together more by accident, than because of my "beautiful kreativity" and I was surprised by the result....Thanks again....!!

Uwe, I love these enameled beads. These are hard to find in the states and they make up beautifully with the millies you have selected. I like the mix in bead cultures. Nancy

...when I found this blue one from the first picture, it looked more like an old cannonball, with all that dirt. After cleaning with a toothbrush the color came out...any more suggestion than „...antique European...“(if it is so....)...?? 14x16mm
....and the other, 12x12mm, with just 1mm perforation...age...?....would Bohemia/Czech be a guess...?

Hi Uwe,

The spheroidal blue bead looks like a more unusual version of the typical cobalt-blue beads that come out of old Niger River habitation sites (like Jenne, Goa, and Timbuktu), and were most likely derived from the Middle East (or Egypt), in Islamic times.

The teal colored gooseberry-like bead is most likely Venetian. These were made until fairly recent times, into the 20th century. Modern gooseberry-like beads are now hot-tumbled, and are somewhat different in appearance from older beads.

Jamey

The 4 curved beads (12x40mm)are looking „crude“ made, with a rough surface...the smaller to the right is shiny all around...is this one a Venetian and the others are from Ghana....??
Thanks, and have a good one... Uwe

They were probbly made "crude" to compete with African-made beads. Back in the early '80s, Elizabeth Harris had a duece of a time telling the difference between the European and African beads of similar appearance. She actually wrote to Alistair Lamb in England for advice. (I don't think he was much help.) The Venetian beads always have a lampworked core. The African beads do not.

Jamey